Sri Lanka veteran cricketer Kumar Sangakkara has announced his all time favourite cricket XI, featuring Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne. However, the notable absentee remains India legend Sachin Tendulkar.
The skipper of the side is former Cricket World Cup winner with Sri Lanka in 1999, Aravinda De Silva.
"Mathew Hayden will be at the top of the order facing the first ball and to complement him, I have got Rahul Dravid," the Press Trust of India quoted Sangakkara as saying. The hard-hitting batsman, who retired from all forms of the game last year, included four Australian and three Lankan players in his playing XI, which also doesn't include the player himself.
Warne features alongside Muttiah Muralitharan in what is a stellar spin attacking line and among the fast bowlers, former Sri Lanka pacer Chaminda Vaas and former Pakistan great Wasim Akram make it to the list.
Sangakkara, who played against Tendulkar in the Cricket All-Stars T20 last year, didn't comment however on not including the 'master blaster' in his lineup.
Kumar Sangakkara XI:
Mathew Hayden, Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Aravinda De Silva (c), Jacques Kallis, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas.
